As fast as it's finding its way into our lives, it's also finding its way into corporate policies.

Corporate Sharing Phase 1: Travel Budgets

For instance, a report from Certify indicates that many companies are now incorporating sharing platforms into travel policies.

The report shows that 13% of corporate travel budgets are now made up of sharing economy websites.

If you aren't overly impressed by that figure, keep in mind that millennials are starting to reach their 30s. With millennials being the pioneers of the sharing economy, this upward trend will only get more pronounced.

Kids these days and their emojis!

Corporate Sharing Phase 2: Hiring

Taxi services and hospitality are not the only areas corporations are looking at. Every aspect of their day-to-day function is gradually changing thanks to the internet.

Human resources is changing dramatically thanks to alternative work arrangements. This is thanks entirely to...yes, you guessed it, the sharing economy!

Administrative assistants, accountants, writers, IT professionals, web designers, and so much more are choosing to ditch the 9-5 in favor of freelancing.

Indeed, a recent report powerfully illustrates this trend by finding that there are currently 53 million freelancers in America. That's 34% of the entire workforce!

By 2020, this study predicts that freelancers will make up 50% of our workforce.

These workers love freelancing because they can work flexible schedules, and pick the jobs they want, when they want. Again, thank you sharing economy.

This has important implications for corporations, not just on the staffing side.

The need for physical office space is shrinking. If half of your jobs can be done in the home of Ms. Jane Doe Everyperson, do you really need those 20 or 30 cubicles?

Sorry, I misspoke. Not the house, the beach.

Hiring freelancers also has the extra benefit of saving on staffing. If you can hire a freelancer to do the same work as a full-time employee, there’s no need to pay for office space, benefits, insurance, or payroll taxes.

Now, that's not to say that a freelancer can always replace a full-time employee. Certainly not!

Corporate Sharing Phase 2: New Services

Employers are already turning to sharing economy workers for various business tasks. This has given rise to on-demand worker platforms like WeGoLook, who can supply temporary workers to fulfil any number of tasks.

WeGoLook's business model in the early days revolved around protecting consumers when buying large consumer items online.

For instance, I have terrible luck when buying stuff online. Check out my most recent laptop purchase from GriZyFiZZi480 on Craigslist:

Now, next time I will spend a few extra bucks on a company like WeGoLook who can travel to the item's location, inspect it, and submit a report to me.

Take that GriZyFiZZi480!

Where does WeGoLook find all these 'Lookers' to go out and complete these tasks?

The sharing economy has provided a ready workforce who are eager to work these side gigs to supplement their income.

And, in case you're wondering, there are 30,000 of them currently partnered with WeGoLook.

WeGoLook Services to Businesses

These include heavy equipment inspections, document retrievals for financial institutions, fleet inspections, salvage services for insurers, and so much more.

Consider a large insurance carrier. They require thousands of field agents strategically placed across the country to travel to, document, and report on vehicle accidents.

Now, they can easily plug into sharing economy platforms like WeGoLook to leverage a professionally trained on-demand workforce.

This workforce is less expensive, and much more nimble than a traditional full-time workforce.

Or, think of a real estate brokerage that has to inspect ten properties a day due to high volume. Do you hire 3-5 full-time staff? Or do you tap into an on-demand workforce who can be dispatched at a moments notice, only when needed?

The possibilities of the corporate sharing economy are endless.

Potential Savings Are One Good Idea Away

We feel pretty confident that this is only the beginning for the sharing economy helping enterprises.

Entrepreneurs are finding new ways to capitalize on wasted space and unused assets on a daily basis.

It’s difficult to pinpoint which sharing economy platform will become staples in the industry, but WeGoLook is certainly at the forefront.

The most important point for enterprise clients to take note of is: How can this new economy work for your business?

Remember, the possibilities are endless, we just need to be innovative and creative.

In 2016, global insurtech investments totaled $1.7 billion, with both the volume and value of deals roughly doubling since 2014. This doesn’t include companies that are self-funded, have traditional financing, or work with angel investors to bring innovation to the $4.5 trillion global insurance industry. And, every segment of the insurance value chain has been impacted by those investments, including claims.

We are excited to announce our partnership with the CCC ONE platform to help insurance policyholders file self-service claims remotely. CCC ONE is a cloud platform developed by CCC Information Services, Inc. (CCC), a leading software as a service provider to the automotive, insurance, and collision repair industries. Founded in 1980, CCC leverages the CCC ONE platform to link a vast network of more than 350 insurance carriers, more than 24,000 repair facilities, hundreds of part suppliers, dozens of third-party data and service providers, and car manufacturers.

Through this partnership, CCC’s customers can electronically connect to our on-demand field force of more than 40,000 well-trained Lookers who are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our Lookers are always standing by to help insurers provide a high-level of service at a critical point in the claims process. When assigned, one of our Lookers will gather imagery and information in the field, in any U.S. location—even rural areas—in as little as one day.

How it works

When a claim qualifies for CCC’s mobile channel, policyholders are instructed by their insurer how to capture and upload photos of the damage via their smart device. However, when the policyholder requests assistance, or they do not complete the process within the insurer-defined period, insurers can send us an electronic notification through CCC ONE.

As soon as we receive the request for assistance, we dispatch a nearby Looker to take and upload photos to CCC ONE. Once the photos are uploaded, they are immediately available for insurance appraisers to initiate the claims or repair process.

Additionally, any of CCC’s customers can directly assign claims to WeGoLook through CCC ONE. Once assigned, we immediately dispatch Lookers to capture and upload photos and other requested information from the site of the claim.

It’s a win, win, win

We’re very excited about this partnership the many ways it allows WeGoLook to offer value to policyholders and insurers alike. With CCC and WeGoLook, policyholders gain an even more seamless experience when filing self-service claims. Insurers get access to our on-demand workforce through the CCC platform to help them provide even better service to their insurance industry clients.

And for us, this partnership furthers our mission, and the mission of our parent company, Crawford & Company, to help restore and enhance lives, businesses, and communities.